By Spending Big to Lower MetroLink Access, BiState Shows Its Priorities

Did you know that this year BiState Development, the agency responsible for Metro Transit in St. Louis, will cover the annual fare for more than 50,000 riders with the help of corporate donors?

No? Well, that’s because they won’t.

Instead, BiState will spend $52 million on faregates blocking MetroLink access and new surveillance technologies at stations — what would be enough money to provide nearly 56,000 riders with free monthly metro passes for the entirety of a year. This is BiState Development’s “Secure Platforms Plan,” and it’s coming soon to a station near you.

But faregates aren’t that bad.

I mean — they may look like prison gates, and they may add an entirely new barrier to our already mediocre transit system, but surely, BiState must be adding them for a reason.

And clearly, surveillance can be good.

It isn’t like the state of Missouri would ever misuse video surveillance to target anyone seeking abortion treatment or gender-affirming care in Illinois —

Missouri is especially well known for protecting the personal liberties of nonwhite people—

Right?

(If it was not already clear, I am being sarcastic.)

So what?

I personally think surveillance and faregates suck, but at least BiState Development garnered popular support for this plan from others.

Well — no.

They did not even try.

Instead, they held meetings during common work hours, ignored or belittled the critiques of skeptical transit riders and canceled meetings last minute, seemingly in anticipation of pushback. Most riders I’ve spoken with on recent commutes were not even aware of the Secure Platforms Plan.

BiState Development only engaged with about “30 individuals and organizations about the Secure Platforms plan” according to its own website. This is embarrassing given that a single bus can typically hold about 50 riders.

Clearly, community engagement with actual transit riders was not BiState Development’s priority.

Despite most of these funds coming from the public, the voices of private donors, who donated $10.4 million, has been prioritized. As a matter of fact, the top donor for this plan is, oddly enough, Enterprise. A car rental company! Their involvement exposes a clear conflict of interest.

So why is BiState Development still pursuing this plan?

Proponents claim it is about the “perception of safety.” Why the “perception of safety” as opposed to actual safety, you ask?

For starters, addressing actual safety requires the real work of community engagement. As I pointed out earlier, BiState Development is either not equipped with the skills to handle this or they do not value the voices of their own transit riders.

Furthermore, MetroLink does not have a unique crime issue, contrary to what popular headlines may suggest. Even Chesterfield “has a violent crime rate 8-times that of MetroLink,” as Tony Nipert noted in NextSTL in 2022 .

East-West Gateway’s very own consultants advised against faregates in 2019, writing , “There isn’t much correlation between fare evasion and serious crime.” Instead, consultants suggested that BiState Development focus on the presence of security personnel, which they cited as a major concern for most MetroLink riders.

If the Secure Platforms Plan neither addresses actual safety nor the “perception of safety,” what the hell does it do?

It throws away millions of dollars to appease the whims of classism and racism.

Public transit has always been the target of bigoted attacks in our region. It is no secret that St. Louis transit riders are predominantly Black and working-class. This fact alone is enough to make many in the region shudder in fear.

It is bewildering that this reality is rarely acknowledged aloud.

In the podcast “The Problem We All Live With – Part One,” this racism toward Black transit riders becomes clear. In an audio snippet, a St. Charles mother expresses her frustration with Black children from the Normandy School District attending the Francis Howell district.

She states that the reason that St. Charles County voted against MetroLink is because “we don't want the different areas coming across on our side of the bridge, bringing with it everything that we're fighting today against.”

St. Charles is not the only predominantly white community that has shown hostility toward transit riders. Ever wonder why MetroLink’s Blue Line turns abruptly before reaching Ladue? Or why the large wealthy suburb does not contain a single bus stop, let alone a bus route?

I do. It’s called racism.

Even the mere mention of MetroLink in the news summons local racists to express their unsubstantiated views in online forums.

Now this plan — influenced heavily by bigotry — received more than $10 million in private corporate funding and the blessing of elected officials (e.g., the St. Louis mayor and St. Louis county executive). Meanwhile, the majority of its funds come from our public dollars.

This is our great democracy at work.

But seriously—

We cannot let our transit system become hijacked by racism or classism, and we should not waste millions of dollars as a result.

BiState Development and our elected officials could have easily trusted the expertise of the consultants hired. These consultants did the real work and community engagement, yet BiState opted for an unpopular plan. They skipped straight to the support of private donors.

By supporting this plan, private corporate donors, including Centene, Express Scripts and Ameren, invalidate their own proclaimed values of diversity, equity, or inclusion. Instead, they chose to contribute to an ongoing legacy of racism and classism in the St. Louis region.

Imagine, just for one second, if these private corporate donors funded fare-free transit for all St. Louisans, paid increases for transit workers, or even bus rapid transit.

They would then be true champions for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Imagine if elected officials valued transit riders as equal citizens.

I know — that’s a big ask—

But imagine if they regularly rode the bus or MetroLink to engage with working class constituents.Imagine if they put forward bold visions that make transit more convenient, efficient, and useful to riders. Imagine if Bistate Development treated its metro riders with dignity and respect.

And imagine if they stood in solidarity with their riders who are predominantly black and working-class against racist and classist smears —

I want to support Metro because I rely on it, but BiState Development must support us riders.

Malik Lendell is a cyclist and bus rider residing in Fox Park. You can connect with him on Instagram at @maliklendell . The RFT welcomes succinct essays on topics of local interest. Email sfenske@riverfronttimes.com if you've got something to say.